Best Power-Pop Recording (2002)

Stop34 SatelliteHideaway Records

Singer-songwriter/guitarist Marc Benning understands that power pop only succeeds when its two primary components are kept in perfect balance -- and on Stop, he achieves his aim more often than not. "Get Out Alive," "Caroline," "Smoke From a Funeral" and many other tracks here are compulsively hummable without seeming wimpy, and they rock with conviction that never degenerates into mere dopiness. This Satellite is flying high.